guest post // abc book page & giveaway from do small things with love

A note from Mollie: I'm incredibly happy and blessed to have Nancy guest posting here today. Please welcome her and enjoy all she has to share!

Hello there Wild Olive Readers! I'm Nancy from www.dosmallthingswithlove.com and, like you, I am a proud, devoted and loyal reader here (isn't Mollie the best?). But, today Mollie has been gracious enough to hand the blog over to me so that I can share a little project that I have been working very very hard on: My Pretty ABC's Felt Alphabet Book.

You see, I have a pretty little 2 year old girl, and, well, she needed a pretty little alphabet book (of course). Like Mollie I love felt, little stitches and general cuteness, so I dove head-first into this project, deciding to draw up the patterns as I made the book. The project got a little bigger than I expected, but I loved making it, and my little 2 year old is in love with her new Pretty ABC book. Here are all the pages in the book.



After all that work I am thrilled that TODAY I am launching this pattern as an eBook (yes today)! And, because I am so excited about it, I'm offering it for only $5 this week (50%)! That's right, this week only. Go get it now!

But, more info on that later.

For now, I thought I'd share one of my favorite pages from the book--Letter O. Around here I know that O is for Olive, but in My Pretty ABC's, O is for Owl.

Here is the pattern for this page. Click the link below the image for a full version PDF of the pattern, ready to print.

PDF--O is for Owl Pattern

Once you have the template printed out on regular computer paper, you will need:

• Wool Blend Felt--I get my felt HERE. You can choose any color combination!
• 6x6 piece of felt for the base of the page.
• Matching Embroidery Thread
• Clear Tape
• Sharp Scissors

First, cut out your felt pieces.

The easiest way I know to get a perfect cut when working with felt is to tape your template directly to the felt you are cutting. Simply cut out the shape on your paper template, then cut a piece of felt slightly larger than the shape you are cutting. Next, using clear tape, tape the paper directly to the felt. Finally, grab some sharp scissors and cut through the tape. This method is much easier and more accurate than using straight pins.

Once you have all of your pieces cut out, lay them out. Pay attention to where the pieces overlap. You will begin stitching from the bottom up, so remove the top pieces and begin by stitching the body down to the 6x6 page base.



The only stitch I used while creating this page is a simple running stitch. I'm not going to go into the how-to of the running stitch because it is so simple...and I would feel silly giving a stitching tutorial on Mollie's blog ;).

I should add, if you'd like you can, of course, just glue down the pieces instead of stitching them. If you decide to do this I would recommend using Fabri-Tac, or another permanent fabric glue.

However, (and maybe I'm biased) I think stitching is a better option. Yes, it will take longer, but the whole point of this book is to create something beautiful that your little one will cherish for a long long time. Slow down, make it awesome and stitch.



This, of course, is just one page in the alphabet book. There are a couple different ways to bind a felt book and I go into how I bound this book here.



Like I said at the top of the post, I am launching the entire "My Pretty ABC's" Pattern today--and selling it for only $5 this week and this week only.



For more details on the pattern My Pretty ABC's and a little bit about my sweet little 2 year old that inspired the project, make sure to head over to my blog and check it out.

And, last but not least, I am thrilled to be offering one reader a FREE PATTERN FOR THE ENTIRE BOOK AND THE FELT TO MAKE IT!

All felt is not equal. I like to use wool blend felt and feel that no one offers better colors and quality that Renae at BenzieDesign. I used her felt while creating my own book and plan to give one lucky reader the pattern for this felt alphabet book as well as $25 credit to BenzieDesign for the creation of your own book!

Enter below! To enter all you have to do is sign up for my newsletter. That's it! And, once you are signed up for my newsletter you will be the first to know about new patterns. My next project will be a BOY ALPHABET BOOK (my 3 year old boy has made me promise!)

Good Luck! Giveaway runs now through Wednesday at midnight--so enter now.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Thanks again to Mollie and happy stitching!